St. Louis, MO – Matt Carpenter went 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI and Yadier Molina drove in a pair of runs to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 9-6 win over the San Diego Padres.
Jake Westbrook (6-4) gave up two runs on eight hits over 6 1/3 innings and also went 3-for-3 at the plate with a pair of runs scored and an RBI.
"It was a fun ball game and I had a lot of fun out there," Westbrook said. "It was the most I've run the bases since high school. It was a good win for us."
Carlos Beltran added two RBI and Pete Kozma drove in a run for the Cardinals, winners in eight of their last 10 games.
Carlos Martinez gave up three runs in the ninth inning, but Edward Mujica recorded the final two outs of the game to pick up his 27th save of the season.
Jason Marquis (9-5) was charged with six runs on eight hits and three walks over 5 1/3 innings to absorb his third straight loss. He hasn't won since June 15.
Everth Cabrera had two hits and two RBI and Chase Headley added a pair of hits and an RBI for the Padres, losers in 15 of their last 17 games.
"I thought early on we had some decent swings, we just hit the ball to some guys," Headley said. "After the first time through (Westbrook) really settled in and just did what he usually does."
Beltran's sacrifice fly in the third inning scored Westbrook to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead.
The Padres wasted a bases-loaded opportunity in the fourth when Nick Hundley grounded into a double play.
Westbrook opened the fifth with a double before scoring on Carpenter's two- bagger to center field. Carpenter advanced to third on Jon Jay's sacrifice bunt before coming around on Beltran's sacrifice fly to make it a three-run game.
The Cards plated three more in the sixth inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Westbrook laced a single to center to score Matt Adams. Carpenter then faced reliever Colt Hynes and hit a two-run single to right to make it 6-0.
San Diego broke through with a pair of runs in the seventh. With the bases loaded, Cabrera singled to left field to score Alexi Amarista and Hundley.
St. Louis, though, added three more in the home half to break the game open. With two on and no outs, Molina smoked a double to left field off Sean O'Sullivan to score Beltran and Allen Craig. Two batters later, Kozma plated Molina with a base hit to left, giving the Cardinals a 9-2 lead.
Amarista's RBI single in the eighth made it 9-3, and the Padres quickly tacked on three more in the ninth before St. Louis was forced to turn to its closer.
With two on an no outs, Headley ripped a ground-rule double to center to score Jesus Guzman. Carlos Quentin followed with a groundout to first, but it was enough to push Cabrera across. Yonder Alonso then smacked a single to right field to score Headley, chasing Martinez from the game.
Mujica came on and retired the next two batters to nail down the win.
Game Notes
Westbrook had three hits for the first time in his career, and had just three hits all season entering the game ... St. Louis went 6-for-14 with runners in scoring position ... Westbrook is 4-2 over his last six starts ... The Padres are just 6-19 all-time at the new Busch Stadium.
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